doing it, personally i get quoted in esquire for what i have done, but i still have no connections. it is still up to me to do that? i am doing everything can. i do not know what else to do besides try to make a profit in a city that is over-taxing the and running down. [applause] >> i do think that you can do a lot through talking to your city supervisor and working through that process. i am telling you, there are ways that began help you. alcohol is a local issue on this type of matter. what we are behind would you guys want to do, whenever that is. a lot of times we do not always have statutes that make that much sense. it is partly the ways that the

laws have evolved and we are the ones who are stuck with enforcing them the way that they are. that does not necessarily mean that we think they are particularly good ideas, but we certainly want people to grow, prosper, and be saved. that can be achieved in all sorts of ways. we want to work with you on that. thank you. >> i was the founding president of the entertainment commission. i retired and went on to found the culture association, the first trade association statewide for night life, bar, and restaurant activities. i am here with a question that plagues a lot of these license holders, who desire to have their establishment opened for all age dance parties, or 18 and up, and are being handed a restriction in the conditioning

process that requires them to sell 50% food and 50% alcohol, in direct contradiction to the underlying statute that defines a bonafide eating place and put an onerous requirement that cannot be met and makes those business owners immediate felons and creates a situation where our all ages cultural institutions are challenged when ownership changes and there is an opportunity for this new conditioning. for a long time i have been the advocates for either aids license type or the relaxing of the 5050 rule, because i do not think it would stand up in a court of law. i am asking you to direct your staff to look at that. the problem that it purports to solve does not exist and we would ask you to have them removed so that those of us who seek to serve a larger, wider range for each region wider age

range can do so without restrictions that makes us immediate crooks. [applause] >> i hope that does not make you a felon. i totally agree with you that that standard is silly. that is one that we have generally applied, basically, through accounts. on a case by case basis, when those come before me, i have generally not held to that, because it does not make a lot of sense. it very much depends on the establishment. there are certain places where you will never get that, like a fine dining establishment. with you guys, we are just trying to avoid a place that does nothing other than serves alcohol and every once in awhile microwaves a burrito. we have been working to find a better way to go with that. we have a crummy statute, and that is not an excuse, i am just

trying to point out the challenges that we have. we really have tried to come up with something where we can have a target for what we're trying to avoid, fraudulent restaurants. >> i love the idea. >> the willingness to take this challenge on, if it needs to be done legislatively, as he has told me this past week, whenever we need to do, the impetus and strength behind the need for that change to be made is here, present right now. i would embrace your willingness to take a look at it. >> i promise you right now that i will call allison and talk to her about that, if that is an issue they want to take on. you guys are great for that, because that issue has really hit the logical mind. that would be great.

>> thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much, director smyth. now the fun begins, i get to introduce the executive director of the entertainment commission, joycelyn came. [applause] look at all of these people here. this as twice as many people as last year. i'm sure it is a violation of the fire code. are there any fireman here? i didn't like them. i know it is hard to squish in. you in the back, i keep my panelists -- could you come up? the next part of this is going to be panel conversation.

if you would come up? thank you all for coming, by the way. it is always a challenge. it is like having a party and hoping that people will come. now i am so proud of myself. what i want to do to practice this conversation, is carol johnson here somewhere? is that they pretty much relate to the breakout groups that we will put you in later. last year i tried a different thing, to apply location, and it did not work at all. we are going back to the way that we did it at all. i am notorious, and bought it -- and will try not to swear up here. obviously, we will be asking you again about your job and what

you do daily. i will be asking you to go on to a breakout room. but we want to focus on is what audrey mentioned earlier, the creative content, the experience. we did not call this a safety summit for a reason. we are now moving on. well, patrons' safety is super important. we will be talking about that in the breakout session for security. in that break out section we will hopefully have -- hello. talking about guard cards, we are running around the city telling people they need one and we want you all to know why. we brought the authority on that, and a few other folks, to talk to you about that. i imagine there will be a lot of uniforms in that one as well. that is the breakout for you.

again, we wanted to talk about outdoor events. indoors, outdoors, abc licenses, assignments, stuff like that. there will be three of them. there will be some refreshments after we're done here, outside in one of the rooms. we will break out. we will not try to come back. lesson learned from last year, when we tried to get everyone to come back to the room, that also sought -- sucked. i hope they will partake in the breakout. they are much more casual. thank you. >> an owner management group, we will be asking the permit officers to come in there as well. >> i have almost everyone.

i am going to ask my panelists to introduce themselves. mike, commander, i will start with ranked first. >> good afternoon. i am the commander of the metro division, the five downtown stations that go basically to the southern, northern, mission, and prior to this new assignment, which i did for the last couple of months, i was the commander of the special crimes and victims in it. i am now the code-liaison to the alcohol licensing unit. my partner is here. charlie, would you introduce yourself? he is my partner. what we do is run the daily

operations of the unit. we are also the sounding board for them when it comes to the various type of permits and licenses we may be having difficulties with. i have my units working with the permit officers at those stations, who are the first line, reporting directly to their captains. i wanted to say that my highest priority is public safety. when we review an application for a new venue, be it entertainment, a bar, or a night club, it is very important that we look at the impact the venue will have on the neighborhood, and the community itself. however, i must also keep in mind and be aware of

entrepreneurship and small business owners as the backbone of our city. they had a lot to the culture and flavor of san francisco and we do not want to lose that. we take these factors into consideration. ultimately be want everyone to have an enjoyable and safe time when they go out after hours to enjoy the city at night. that is my viewpoint. >> i am going to ask you to pass that over. >> good afternoon. i am a member of the san francisco police department alcohol and licensing unit. i have been in this department for 22 years. in the last eight months i have been designed to this particular unit, which is a different skill set for me. not investigating, but reaching out with training and enforcement hearings.

we are the main unit that the commander mentioned. the first line would be the permit officers. if there is a permit, someone once transfer, that is where we talked about the code 47. we disseminate out to the stations. we get input from the station. essentially when they break up to the groups, you can ask them specifically what they look for. generally are concerned and cornerstone is public safety. environmentally when we look at the impact it will have, we look at the culture of service. i will talk about saturation. i agree with many of the questions that were brought up. it is over saturated. those districts and lots need to be updated. what we do is we handle

licensing, education, and enforcement. we are liaison to the abc, as well as public health and the entertainment commission. last year we handled 637 licensing investigations, 385 involving premises conditions with no additional actions, 25 denials, and miscellaneous. we also conducted 28 minor decoy operations that involved 416 premises and 16 arrests. we did 20 impact subscriptions to see if they were handling the rules of procedure. for instance, the 47 that mr. allen brought up is something that we will go out and see. are they serving food at the bar or restaurant? generally, the license belongs to abc, however, i agree with

the director of apple smith. it goes along with our input. we work really well hand in hand. with most of the speakers today, i feel i have worked very well with them. very flexible. in that case by case situation, personally i do not agree with the 50/50 rule. a $400 bottle of wine is in excess. we do go out with enforcement. one of the gentleman here that works with the entertainment commission will go out every weekend. myself, i do go out with another officer and an individual from the community to make sure that these rules are applied i welcome all of you who have licenses. it is a case by case situation. we are very open-minded in the police department. we do here with the mayor says,

it is a big business. do not be afraid to contact our particular office. i could go in with more modifications, but if you deny one, the whole thing is done for a whole year. we will work with you on the conditions in the hours, i find the entertainment commission very agreeable, as well as most of lobbyists. i think they will tell you the same thing as well. >> are there pink cards? you can fill them out if you have a question. nicholas will collect them.

we will ask those questions of these folks. dmitri, you are up. >> good afternoon. in the executive director of folsom st. events. we are the producers of many other events. particularly the well-known folsom street fair. there is a lot of work to do. we are actually a non profit. we donate back to charities. our model is different probably the most street fairs. but we do take it very seriously. i am here basicallyé@ to sharea lot of concerns, the issues of others, producers in the city,

regulations, increasing fees. hopefully will have time today to talk about breast practices -- best practices. i noticed that in the opening remarks there were comments made around the entertainment commission in its ability to shut down places that are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. it would be great to explore what we would need for an incentive structure. how can we look at things like reducing as they do what they do in need to do it well. >> i have been a longtime promoter under the name of opal. the earning and community is the

opulent temple. i am also a part-time psychologist, working with kids in the bayview, and a father. i was hoping to speak today as a small-business person doing various kinds of events in the city with similar challenges that illustrate the need for further reform in the city to make the process make more sense while still maintaining public safety. >> hello, folks. my name is jeff, founder of public works. i love good food, music and art, creativity in general. i tried to reflect that in the

venue. by booking manager had an opportunity in lake tahoe. i love san francisco and the diversity here. i find that when you operate a venue and it is diverse and has a variety of things going on, there is a certain openness. when it is open to all the folks in the city, problems of violence and things like that do not tend to come along. thank you. >> thank you. i love my panel. in the producer of the largest fetish event next year. thank you, from the. [laughter]

i wanted to start with you, jeffrey. this is a big thing of mine. everyone says that they love good food and music. i love a good cocktail. obviously, that is part and parcel of the issue that came up around all ages, 21 and over. other than looking great entertainment on the stage, how do you plan to make sure the or patrons have a great experience? aside from what they are seeing, maybe? >> it is artistic. right off the bat, when you enter a club, the first contact point is the door. if there is a hard asset the door giving you a rough time. from the beginning i start with a courtesy force.

the bartender's that i have are not the kinds with attitudes, like to ignore some folks and go to others. on the first level, it is to you're dealing with at the venue. then it gets into the small art gallery of public works. part of the energy of the venue comes from having that art gallery. having a small workshop with a few resident artists who work on art during the day. it provides a certain energy. when that moves on to the employees were working there during the night, coming in contact with patrons, you have a great start and a good experience. great talent, visuals, who have done the other thing for the most part.

lots of responses. >> thank you. dmitri, while enhancing your out dope -- outdoor event, how important is the creative contact to make sure it you have customers who return over and over again? >> our creative content, you know, it is pretty out there. [laughter] >> sort of spices up the meeting. >> for us, i think the most important thing we are offering is something quintessentially san francisco. something that they cannot find anywhere else. we have two fetish fares in san francisco. there are only three other cities in the world that do that. new york, toronto, and berlin. i have been to all three and they are not nearly the same

size as well we produced, or nearly as diverse. what we are always thinking about is what we are offering people that is so quintessentially san francisco that we get -- it cannot be gotten anywhere else. we are also told the switching of the entertainment this year. we have dance areas where the slides used to be. i think that for us it is about making sure that people, even if they came to san francisco in particular five years ago, that they are not experiencing the fight -- the same thing. it speaks to one of the priorities. the never-ending city. or something. i do not remember, exactly, but it is the same basic concept. even if you come here several times over and over, you will not have the same experience. as we do that, enhancing certain

things. live stages have big-name bands. headlining the folsom street fair, people are now looking forward to our entertainment in ways they did not 10 years ago. >> commander, how do we prepared to assist an outdoor event? what training do the folks on the street have when engaging with patrons of the event? >> i am sorry, i have never heard of little booth. not my genre, i guess. you know, all of our officers receive a lot of training at the academy level and the special operations group on crowd control. you all know the chief was year

earlier. an outstanding job, he spoke to everyone, it all comes down to us all, all the way down to the online troops. i believe that we are the best in the entire country, if not the world. [applause] just recently, thank you, i had the deputy chief of shanghai coming over to ask us how we manage events here. i just wanted them to understand how we do it differently and how they can improve. this is not the first time i have had that happen. from what i have observed over my 32 years in my time on line as an officer, i was an officer

before my first promotion, i have received, and we have all received, thanks to our outstanding training, if there is any need for some kind of tactical response, our team is the best in the country. >> thank you for reminding me that we are at the top for the new academy class, working with officer buckner -- right, gary? to talk about the new entertainment. this is what we do and how we do what we do. it is my vision to have some kind of special team in place in the department that focuses in understands my life. we are a little bit of a ways off, but that is what i would like to do. >> how can a new club owner in gauge so they know the rules and

regulations and what is expected of them? >> essentially, we tend to reach out to club owners. there are 3600 licenses within 49 square miles. the director will tell you it is the largest in the state. so, for the inspectors assigned to that unit's, we tried to engage them to open up. i agree with the gentleman at the end. security is paramount. we feel that as the police department, we want you to please yourself. as the commander mentioned, we are well trained. we do not come out there as police officers. we are into education and training. we are not looking to enforce.

we tried to instill the idea that the security plan is paramount, providing the framework by which an establishment protect itself from inappropriate behavior and criminal acts for a working relationship with the community and the police. there is that umbrella of security and personnel. we looked at the management to hire the appropriate personnel. hiring, training, and supervision. everything that you need. all of our problems come from the over service of alcohol. we ask for owners to train for over service. we also look for physical security measures, like scanning. additional parking and security

of the exterior is important. we think that an ongoing plan management -- constantly as cds nightclub owners assessing management. it is readjusted when necessary. the bottom line is they have a great security plan and they will limit their liability. it is all about making money and defending yourself against liability. that is what we try to preach to club owners and management personnel. >> thank you. what are some of the barriers have experienced in planning an outdoor special event? how are they different from indoor special events? or maybe they are the same?